JULY 22,2018 OUR GROUP 23 OF MORNING HOTSHOTS

“We sometimes hurt those we love because they need to be “taught a lesson,” when we really want to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention. This odd trait of mind and emotion, this perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom. This subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness can underlie the smallest act or thought. Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the essence of character-building and good living. An honest regret for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received, and a willingness to try for better things tomorrow will be the permanent assets we shall seek.”

― Alcoholics Anonymous, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

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VERNON HOWARD

“Self-knowledge is the great power by
which we comprehend and control our lives”

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The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to

Accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And the Wisdom to know the difference.

We were now at Step Three.

Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him:

“God, I offer myself to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the

bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them

may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy

will always!”

We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon

ourselves utterly to Him.

Seventh Step Prayer

-The Seventh Step Prayer is from page 76. The Big Book

When ready, we say something like this:

“My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now

remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you

and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.”

We have then completed Step Seven.

-(Both derived from page 86 in the Big Book)

St Francis Prayer

-From Chapter 11 of “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions”

“Lord, make me a channel of they peace,

that where there is hatred, I may bring love;

that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;

that where there is discord, I may bring harmony

that where there is error, I may bring truth;

that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;

that where there is despair, I may bring hope;

that where there are shadows, I may bring light;

that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;

to understand, than to be understood;

to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.”

St. Francis Assisi (1182-1228).

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The mind is a magnet and we attract that with which we identify the self. In order to get the most out of life we must learn consciously to change many of our habitual thought patterns. This is not easy, for our old thought patterns cling to us with great tenacity, but, being thought patterns, they can be reversed. If you are filled with fear, refill yourself with faith, for faith always overcomes fear.

Ernest Holmes

I was told to keep going back to the third step
as I had made a decision to let God be the Boss.Anonymous

Your duty is to treat everybody with love as a manifestation of the Lord.Swami Sivananda

Everyone has been made for some particular work,
and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.

RUMI

ACIM Workbook Lesson 173 Insights

Review:“God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

“I will step back and let Him lead the way. I walk with God in perfect holiness.”

In every moment I have a choice. Do I want to join with the ego like a rebellious teenager, stepping out on my own, rejecting God’s Will and doing it my way? Or do I want to accept God’s Will as my own, share His perfect holiness and thereby share His perfect happiness? The world I see with the body’s eyes is the effect of choosing the first option. I receive Heaven with the second option.

The attraction of the first option is the belief that somehow it is possible to have more than Heaven. Put in these terms, the idea seems insane, and it is. But the wish for specialness, to be different and unique, to have something I can call my own, is the belief that it is possible to have more than everything, more than Heaven.

If I look honestly at all the times I feel defensive or vulnerable, it is always because I perceive some aspect of my specialness is threatened. If I take offense, if I resent, if I judge, it all comes from the wish to maintain specialness. Specialness comes with a high price. To maintain the illusion of specialness, I must deny God’s Love for me. I must deny the happiness and holiness that are His gifts to me. I must deny His strength and thus I cannot experience His peace, for certainty is gone.

The more I can remember this high cost each time I judge, fear, resent or feel vulnerable in any way, the more I can remind myself there is another choice. I can accept God’s gifts, long since given. I can claim His strength, His Love, His joy and peace. I need only step back, accept His Will as my own and let Him lead the way. When I accept His Will as mine, I do indeed walk with Him in perfect holiness. Here is peace and absolute certainty. Today let me remember I share God’s Will for me and know His Love.

Everyone in this world who looks out through the body’s eyes and believes in a world of separate identities has lost sight of their one true Identity. They have lost sight of their Source, which is universal Love. The whole physical universe is an effect of losing sight of our Identity, our true Nature as one in Love. We have lost sight of What we are and Where we are. We are living in a dream world that is the opposite in every way of our true Identity. The way out of this mistaken perception is to step back and ask the Holy Spirit to return to our awareness. The Holy Spirit is always there, but we often don’t pay attention to It.

In order to hear the Holy Spirit, I must quiet my busy mind and leave an open space. I must be open and receptive to hearing Its Voice. I must not think that I already know. I must want to receive the Light of the Holy Spirit.

What the Holy Spirit brings is the opposite of the world of separation. It brings the truth of my Identity. It reminds me that behind the images of this world is formless universal Love. Nothing is broken into pieces here. There is only wholeness, oneness. Nothing is divided or different. Nothing is special and unique. All is one. All is Love. All is God. The Holy Spirit reminds me that this is my true Identity and it is everyone’s true Identity. Everyone walks with God in perfect holiness because that is the only reality that is true. Anything else consists only of dreams that are not real and mean nothing. The only way for me to know this is to step back and let Him lead the way.

Today my practice is to step back and open my mind to the Holy Spirit again and again. It is only in this way that I will be led to the awareness of what is true always. God is but Love and therefore so am I. God is but Love and therefore so is everyone in this world. Let me step back today and remember the truth.